My little angel...and my little girl, too!

I have always loved Raphael style cherubs. One of the first "paintings" (read we got a framed print from Kirklands) that my husband and I had in our first house was the Sistine Chapel cherubs by Raphael. Love them! So, of course when I saw the graphic, I knew I had to download it. This is the actual graphic from http://thegraphicsfairy.com/victorian-graphic-lovely-cherub-angel/

If you go to the link above, you can download it for free. I used this kind of opaque iron on transfer paper for the shirt 

http://www.dharmatrading.com/transfers/opaque-inkjet-transfer-paper.html?lnav=transfers.html

So, this is what I did for the shirt. I bought the shirt at Tarjay and shortened it for a better fit on her. I really should have left an extra inch, but que sera, right? I ended up cutting off 5.5" and turned under .5" and hemmed it with a double needle. Then, I ironed on our beautiful cherub. Voila! Custom altered and embellished shirt. 

For the skirt, it was an upcycle. I went to a huge yard sale back in September toward the end of the day and they gave everyone these huge industrial sized trash bags to fill up for $10. I stuffed that puppy to the gills. As a matter of fact, the outfit I had in mind for a signature look for the Project Run and Play competition was using some of those garments. Once this shoulder thing gets better, I am still planning on knocking it out. It is a completely custom draped outfit, though, so I need two functioning arms. So, back to the skirt. I was digging through the racks, stuffing my bag and found a gorgeous hot pink Lilly Pulitzer (rest in peace :( ) silk skirt with pink paillettes. It was a womens size medium. Like any good Southern girl, of course we grabbed that on up. Of course, while my girl is certainly growing, she isn't yet a women's medium. So, I opened up the waistband, took out the elastic and shortened it to fit her. It was probably a knee-ish length on a grown person, but I was happy with the longer length on her, so I didn't have to change the length. And there you go - a custom unique fun outfit with very little to break the bank. 

My point? Don't be afraid to alter or experiment. Have you been to a yard sale or a thrift store?? (If not, go now..no, really, stop, drop and shop!) While browsing, have you seen something with an amazing fabric, a cool print, or something that just really caught your eye but you left it because it wasn't your size, style or anything else in between? Don't ever do that again! Buy it. Bring it home. If you screw up, no big deal, right? If not, you end up with something really cute, like I am about to show you below! So, its Thursday, go scan your local Craigslist or read your newspaper classifieds, find your local yard sales. Or, find the locations of your nearest Goodwill, Salvation Army or other thrift stores. I have found GEMS junking - everything from this Lilly Pulitzer skirt for basically free to gorgeous cashmeres. Don't be a snob! Let this inspire you!

And while the music is playing and tags are a popping, I present to you my upcycled, custom altered, ironed on tween fun outfit of the day!

I know some of you may have the impression that my daughter is always prim and proper because of the pictures you see of her. Those are the EDITED pictures you see. If you really want to see her personality and how she is most of the time, the picture below pretty much sums her up!

Doesn't fall make for some of the prettiest pictures?? Thank you for stopping by today. I go back to the Orthopedist Monday, so any prayerful thoughts that I can get out of this sling would be appreciated!!